25th April 2018 Current Affairs Analysis -IASToppers

World Malaria Day; Island Development Agency; Indian Culinary Institute and IGNTU; Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project; system to measure air quality; new pollution-forecast system; SAFAR; Sagar Kavach; World’s smallest land fern; Giant mosquito found in China, etc.

By IT's Current Affairs Analysis Team

April 25, 2018

Contents

Polity & Governance

Rajnath Singh chairs meeting of Island Development Agency

MOU signed between Indian Culinary Institute and IGNTU

Economy

Government signs loan agreement with World Bank for Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project

Polity & Governance

Rajnath Singh chairs meeting of Island Development Agency

The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, recently chaired the third meeting of the Island Development Agency (IDA).

The Island Development Agency reviewed the progress made towards preparation of Development Plans for identified Islands.

What is the Island Development Agency (IDA)?

The IDA was set up on June 1 this year following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s review meeting for the development of islands.

The meetings of the agency are chaired by the Union Home Minister.

Members of the IDA include cabinet secretary, home secretary, secretary (environment, forests and climate change), secretary (tourism) and secretary (tribal welfare).

[Ref: PIB]

MOU signed between Indian Culinary Institute and IGNTU

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) an autonomous body under the Ministry of Tourism, and Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), Amarkantak.

The MOU was signed for imparting collaborative degree programmes including research in the field of culinary arts.

About Indian Culinary Institute (ICI):

ICI is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Tourism.

The main objective of setting up of the ICI was to institutionalize a mechanism to support efforts intended to preserve, document, promote and disseminate Indian Cuisine, meet the sectoral requirement of specialists specific to Indian Cuisine, as also of promoting Cuisine as a Niche Tourism product.

The ICIs will offer structured regular programmes of study specific to culinary arts and culinary management leading to graduate and post graduate level degrees, promote research and innovation, organize demand driven certificate and diploma courses, document and create data base specific to Indian cuisine and commission studies and survey on cuisine.

The ICIs will also help the local youth to get trained in these streams as well as create entrepreneurs and make them self-sufficient.

The hotel and tourism industry will also get benefitted by getting the trained and skilled manpower which in turn will enhance their business and thus generate gainful employment.

About IGNTU:

Indira Gandhi National Tribal University is located in Amarkantak, Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh.

It was established through an Act of Parliament, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Act, 2007.

[Ref: PIB]

Economy

Government signs loan agreement with World Bank for Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project

The Union Government (Ministry of Finance) has signed a Loan Agreement with the World Bank for IBRD credit of US$ 125 (equivalent) for Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project.

Objective of project:

The objective of project is to nurture indigenous innovation, foster local product development and accelerate commercialization process in biopharmaceutical and medical devices industry in India.

About the Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project:

The projects seeks to achieve its objective by bridging critical skill and infrastructure gaps to promote affordable and innovative healthcare products generation for inclusive development and increasing competitiveness in India.

The project will support consortia of public, private, and academic institutions to overcome key market failures currently holding back development of innovative biopharmaceutical and medical devices industry in India.

The closing date of project is June 2023.

The project consists of the following parts:

Strengthening of pilot-to market innovation ecosystem.

Acceleration of the pilot –to-market process for specific products.

Project Management and monitoring & Evaluation.

[Ref: PIB]

Environment, Ecology & Disaster Management

New system to measure air quality

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is tying up with US and Finland to develop new pollution-forecast system that will help anticipate particulate matter (PM) levels at least two days in advance and at greater resolution.

The new system will jointly developed with expertise from Finnish Meteorological Institute and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

About the new pollution-forecast system

The new system will use a different modelling approach as well as computational techniques from that employed in the SAFAR model.

SAFAR will continue to be the backbone for pollution forecast but this new system will use different method of analysis for better resolution and more accurate forecasts.

What is SAFAR?

SAFAR was introduced by Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) for greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location specific information on air quality in near real time.

It was developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune along with India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).

The main objective of SAFAR project is to increase awareness among general public regarding the air quality.

The purpose awareness for general public is to take appropriate mitigation measures and systematic action for betterment of air quality and related health issues.

[Ref: The Hindu]

Key Facts for Prelims

Sagar Kavach

Coastal security exercise “Sagar Kavach” was recently held in Goa.

The exercise is conducted half yearly with an objective to check coastal security mechanism and validate standard operating procedures.

The organisations participating in the exercise are Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Coastal Police, Police Special Branch, Intelligence Bureau, Customs, Department of Port, Department of Fisheries, Director General of Lighthouses and light ships and Fishing Community.

World’s smallest land fern discovered in Western Ghats

Researchers have discovered the world’s smallest land fern in the Ahwa forests of the Western Ghats in Gujarat’s Dang district.

The size of the new Malvi’s adder’s-tongue fern Ophioglossum malviae is just one centimetre.

The fingernail-sized fern belongs to a group known as the adder’s-tongue ferns, named after their resemblance to a snake’s tongue.

The ferns are seasonal and grow with the first monsoon rains. They last only for a few months and new plants are born through their spores next year.

25 April: World Malaria Day

The World Malaria Day (WMD) is being observed every year on 25 April across the world to recognise the global efforts to control preventable vector borne disease malaria.

The theme of 2018 WMD is “Ready to beat malaria”.

The World Malaria Day (WMD) was established by the 60th session of World Health Assembly, a decision-making body of World Health Organization (WHO) in May 2007.

It was established to provide understanding and education of malaria and also spread information on year-long intensified implementation of national malaria-control strategies.

It is one of eight official global public health campaigns currently marked by the WHO.

Giant mosquito with 11.15cm wingspan found in China

Scientists have discovered a giant mosquito with a wingspan of 11.15 centimetres in China’s Sichuan province.

The mosquito belongs to the world’s largest mosquito species Holorusia mikado.

This species mosquito was first found in Japan and normally have wing span of about eight centimetres.